Random YouTube Wednesdays: FoxTrax

Last week’s YouTube took us to the golden age or Fox robotics, but today’s edition takes a look back on one of the more insulting pieces of technology ever invented for television.

Ah yes, the glow puck. The occasional hockey viewer most often complains of how hard it is to follow the puck. Fox thought it would fix that by giving it the tail of a comet. For those of you who didn’t watch hockey back then, please know that this isn’t a joke, or even some All Star Game-only deal. This actually happened.

Now to be fair, I do suppose it did make it easier to follow the puck. However, with a bit of savvy camera work and some experience watching the sport, following the puck shouldn’t be an issue. No one complains when the cameraman gets faked by a quarterback’s play-action, and if you watch enough hockey the flow of the game speaks for itself.

But now I’m just rambling. Still, it was sort of a nifty piece of technology. Too bad it made the broadcast feel downright remedial in presentation.